For Curiosity's Sake

He couldn’t really say how the fascination had begun; only that it had. Nor could he say that it was truly a fascination, until it bordered on obsession. Now, it seemed too late to change this distasteful situation.

He mentally snarled. This mess was so terribly unlike him. How had he become so exceptionally unobservant?

Could it be that he, the Lord of the West, had grown arrogant and therefore blind? He was known for thinking of every possible outcome in battle, both of mental and physical natures, and yet it seemed a possibility that he may have overlooked something. This girl, this odd woman-child, had been written off as a being of little consequence.

Yet here he stood, atop a cliff, watching her patchwork group travel across a field below. He could hear the laughter and carrying on emitted from the travelers; the indignation as a joke was made at the monk’s expense.

A short time ago, he’d begun to study the enigmatic priestess. The clothes she wore, though he’d commented on them and her apparent profession, spoke of many things. The fact that they were always in good repair hinted that she did not share the generally accepted ideas on bathing as the rest of the humans in the area. A foreigner, perhaps? It seemed unlikely; she spoke easily and fluently, and carried many of the physical attributes of the natives. Her hair seemed to be of similar texture, though better cared for.

She spoke and argued as though well educated. Yet she was undoubtedly female, and even in royal circles, females are educated just enough to avoid embarrassment, and under no circumstances argued as an equal to a male.

The other things he had observed were more abstract, though no less important. She drew humans and demons alike to her. With a fierce sense of loyalty and warm smiles, every last one of the beings who came to know her, fell under her spell. Dove may be a more appropriate word, as all but Inu-Yasha had gone willingly and headlong into her embrace.

Even from his perch, he could feel the power that she radiated. The power had such a unique feel to it; warm, inviting. At first, he’d assumed that she was nearly as powerful as he. A weighty thought, indeed. Though, he’d decided that she wasn’t; that it was her soul that he felt. Her soul, according to snippets of conversation he’d heard, was abnormally large. That it hadn’t fit in Kanna’s mirror.

The small group was nearly at the base of his cliff. The kit jumped off of the girl’s shoulder, and flopped onto the grass, grateful to be out of the mid-summer sun. Each set about doing a task or two to prepare the midday meal. The monk walked to the river, and returned carrying water in one of the girl’s metal cooking pots. Without breaking stride or drawing attention to himself, the monk looked up to where Sesshomaru was standing on the cliff.

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes slightly, irritated at being caught. The monk simply nodded in greeting and brought the water to the girls who were breaking out some vegetables and noodles.

He turned and left. How? How had this human noticed him? He’d masked both aura and scent, no small feat with another dog demon, if only half, two holy people, and one who hunted demons.